Explosive reactive armor is a type of vehicle armor that is designed to reduce the amount of penetration of projectiles, e.g., anti-tank rounds. In general, explosive reactive armor includes an explosive material sandwiched between two plates, e.g., metal plates. The plates and explosive material form a block-like module. Numerous modules are distributed over the base armor of a vehicle, e.g., tank, in order to form a protective layer of explosive reactive armor.
Generally speaking, in operation the explosive reactive armor is designed to deflect a projectile by altering the angle of incidence of the projectile to prevent the projectile from perforating the base armor of the vehicle. More particularly, as the projectile impacts the outermost plate of an explosive reactive armor module, the explosive material ignites. The ignition of the explosive material causes the two plates of the module to be driven apart. As the outer (or cover) plate is driven outward into the projectile, the outer plate damages, e.g., breaks or bends, the penetrator rod of the projectile. As the inner plate is driven inward away from the projectile, a longer path-length is created for the projectile, thereby reducing the chance that the projectile will perforate the vehicle's base armor.